ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an argument, grounded in a critical pragmatism, for continuing to teach the canon. Critical pragmatism is compromised and compromising. My argument may tend to associate me with advocacies which present themselves as principled, and of which I am highly critical. I share many of the critical positions that seek a disengagement from the canon as a focus for art historical studies; I am aware of the possibility that my strange bedfellows may find my arguments more useful (if not more palatable) than may my ‘natural’ allies.
